Omicron continues as dominant variant in Gallatin County

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly two years ago, several variants of the coronavirus have developed, including the most recent omicron strain. New case records have been shattered by this variant, with five days this January having seen over one million new cases in the U.S. according to data from The New York Times. 

Gallatin County has not been immune to the effects of the omicron variant, either. During Gallatin County Health Department’s weekly COVID-19 press call on Friday, Jan. 23, David Taylor, Medical Director of Clinical Research at Bozeman Health, said, “Gallatin County is one of the hotspots for this current wave we’re in compared to other counties in Montana. In a period of 30 days, omicron has completely replaced the delta variant. This goes along with national findings.” 

Despite the high transmissibility of the variant, Taylor said that the omicron variant appears to have milder symptoms as opposed to previous strains, especially when a case occurs in vaccinated individuals. As of Wednesday, Jan. 26, there were 24 COVID-19 positive patients at Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, which is an increase from last week's 17 hospitalized patients. The critical care unit at the hospital has 20 beds. 

Taylor described lines of cars at testing centers. Kujawa also took note of this, stating that last week Bozeman Health processed over 5,000 swabs for COVID-19 tests and the morning of Friday, Jan. 21, almost 3,000 swabs had been processed so far. Taylor referred to the high average percentage of tests returning positive results, which was 31.3% on Friday—a decrease from the 32% positivity rate reported the previous week, according to the health department’s surveillance report. 

According to the surveillance report from Friday, Jan. 21, there appears to be a “decline in the number of cases that we’re experiencing,” Lori Christenson, Gallatin City-County Health Officer, said. “It’s too early for us to tell whether or not this trend will continue, but I want to also just reiterate how important it is to understand that right now we are experiencing very high community transmission, and we’re really seeing case numbers, that have been active case numbers, that are the highest we’ve seen throughout this pandemic.”

While omicron does seem to be a milder strain, the potentially deadly effects of COVID-19 are still present. The health department announced on Thursday, Jan. 20, that three more Gallatin County residents have passed away from complications due to the virus, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths in the county to 111. 

“As I have shared, and I will continue to share with our community the importance of precautionary measures,” Kujawa said, “which includes wearing a mask in indoor public places when we’re experiencing this high transmission, and that again is regardless of your vaccination status.